After becoming involved with the Nihilist movement and being trained as an assassin, Vera falls in love with Alexis, another member of the group. But Vera soon finds out that the truth about Alexis puts the two of them at odds, and she will have to choose between him and her cause. Loosely based on the life of Russian revolutionary Vera Zasulich, Vera was not performed until years after it was written, when an American actress, Marie Prescott, and her husband purchased the rights to perform the play.